Adnerb the Movie Nerd

Movie reviews from a middle school teacher's perspective

The Wrath of Man

By Leave a Comment

Apple Rating:

Adnerb is out there continuing to brave the theaters. Yes, many of these movies can be watched on televison,streaming services,laptops and even phones. However,for me, nothing beats seeing a movie, even a mediocre one, on the big screen. This week my husband and I watched the latest Guy Ritchie cinematic opus, “The Wrath of Man.” Jason Statham stars as “H,” a mysterious, over qualified, armoured truck driver who guns down a few would-be armed robbers during a robbery attempt with a callous indifference as easily and efficiently as swatting a fly. Everyone hails him as a hero, while wondering who he really is, where he comes from, and why he would want to work in a dangerous, and low paying, job. We eventually find out his back story and ulterior motive as he works his own version of vigilante justice. I found this to be a subpar offering and way too predictable. The story line jumped back and forth in time enough to be distracting; and there was an overreliance on bang bang, shoot-em-up to the detriment of acting performance. Statham played “H” too detached and emotionless, very understated and without the ‘charm’ of other performances, in movies such as “The Italian Job” or “Spies.” I enjoyed Bob Odenkirk in “Nobody” a lot more to be honest. However, if you are in the mood for this kind of movie, I think you would enjoy it better seeing the action play out on the big screen. Now, go buy your tickets and see something -anything- the theatres are doing a great job of keeping everyone safe. Coming up soon, the return of a long anticpated sequel! Not to say which one, but…..shhhhh!

The Marksman

By Leave a Comment

Apple Rating:

Bill and I are out there again watching movies. Unfortunately, we can’t see a movie at a theatre in our county; so we traveled to Howard County to take in a movie at the AMC 14 at the Columbia Mall. Shout out to the management there – everything is socially distanced, clean, and sanitized. We feel safe, and so do other people. In fact, there were more people in attendance than we saw for “Wonder Woman!” This time around, the movie was “The Marksman.” I love Liam Neeson, so it is with a heavy heart that I have to say I didn’t care much for this movie. In fact, it will now be numbered as my least favorite Liam Neeson movie. The plot involves a down-on-his-luck former marine named Jim Hanson, who comes across a family trying to flee a Mexican drug cartel by illegally entering the U.S. When the mother is gunned down, he promises to get the boy safely to Chicago where he has relatives. As you can imagine, there are many obstacles and hiccups in the way. As you might also suspect, every possible cliche and plot device you have ever seen in these kind of movies, will be found in “The Marksman.” And sadly, it manages to come across as plodding and boring in many spots. On the other hand, it was nice to have something new to go see. I can’t think of anything I’d rather do on a lazy afternoon than watch a movie on a giant screen, eat some delicious movie comfort food, and spend two hours in the dark with my sweetie. So for that, Liam Neeson, I thank you!

The Honest Thief

By Leave a Comment

Apple Rating:

These are strange times to be going to a theatre. The last two times we have gone, the theatre lobby as well as the theatre itself, have been eerily empty. The theatres are doing everything they can to help people feel safe, and yet most people aren’t going. There are several reasons for this: great movies on Netflix et al, lack of good movies being released, and limited concession food. Out of all of these reasons, theatres would get more business if the studios would release some good movies. Aside from “Tenent,” the only thing being offered are reruns or grade “B” movies. “The Honest Thief” is a B movie that wouldn’t have stayed in town more than a week or two pre Covid-19. With the lack of grade “A” movies out there, this one seems down right epic! It is the type of story that has served Liam Neesen well. He plays nice guy Tom Carter. The only thing is, he has been busily robbing banks. There is a reason he’s been doing this, and his justification is eventually revealed. But he’s decided to stop his criminal activities after he meets storage facility manager Annie (Kate Walsh). He calls the FBI and offers to make a deal to return the $8,000,000 he’s stolen for a lighter sentence so he can marry Annie with a clear conscience. However, that amount of loot is pretty seductive, and he gets set up by two rogue FBI agents. These agents
of course plan to just take the money and make sure Tom is taken out in the process. But like all good bad plans, things go very awry and Tom and Kate have to take on the baddies. Just like he did in the “Taken” movies, Neesen will have to use his talents and skills (and he does again have a set of skills) to persevere. This was a decently made movie of this sort, and it will do until the next Wonder Woman or James Bond movie comes along. You don’t have to go out of your way to see it, but it won’t be a disappointment either.

1917

By Leave a Comment

Apple Rating:

My grandfather enlisted in the Army by lying about his age and was sent to France during WWI.  I never knew this before he died, and don’t know if he ever talked about his experiences.  A relative told me that his company returned with only 14 men walking, my grandfather included.  I feel this movie gave me an accurate picture of what he may have gone through.  This was the most realistic and harrowing picture about WWl I have ever seen.  If you do not enjoy seeing rats eating dead bodies or someone accidently putting their hand through a rotting corpse, you will want to cover your eyes, but don’t let this keep you away from the theater. General Sherman once said “all war is hell,” and the Western Front in the First World War was more hell than most.  But the depiction of the conditions in such an unvarnished way is part of the point – to try to give an idea of what conditions were like, and for many long months. The plot is simple enough, two soldiers Blake (Dean-Charles Chapman) and Schofield (George MacKay) are given a seemingly impossible mission: The Germans have laid a trap and unless the pair can deliver a warning in time, 1,600 men will die, including Blake’s brother. The movie is the story of their incredible and determined journey. It’s not so much about battles and glory; but about willingness to persevere to do what is needed to complete the journey, and the nature of individual courage and comradeship. The cinematography is breath-taking, some of the scenes were shot in one continous roll of the camera making you feel like you, too, were walking with these two intrepid soldiers.  There are appearances by famous names like Colin Firth and Benedict Cumberbatch, but their screen time combined is less than five minutes.  Not to worry, Chapman and MacKay haven enough acting chops to carry this movie.  The action is non-stop, really there is never a dull moment.  I highly recommend this movie and wouldn’t be surprised if it won an Oscar or two next month.

Jumanji:The Next Level

By Leave a Comment

Apple Rating:

It may not be as good, or charming, as the original, but ‘Jumanji: The Next Level’ is a pleasant little romp to take your mind off of the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping.  Nerdy college student, Spencer, is feeling down in the dumps, and it seems, missing the fun and excitement of being Dr. Smolder Bravestone, and decides to repair the broken Jumanji game.  You know what’s going to happen next… Our main favorites are all back: The Rock, Jack Black, Karen Gillian (my fave) and Kevin Hart.  Of course they get sucked back into the game again, only this time around their “avatars” are inhabited by different characters.  This can all be explained by the fact that the game was smashed, put back together, and is working, but malfunctioning. Bethany is left behind, at first; but it turns out she has to find Alex (Colin Hanks/Nick Jonas). He will get them into the game.  The Rock is inhabited this time by Spencer’s grandpa Eddie (Danny de Vito), while Jack Black is Fridge the Jock.  Kevin Hart is Eddie’s buddy Milo (Danny Glover). Eddie and Milo are injected in the story as old friends who hadn’t see each other in years when Eddie resented Milo for retiring from their successful restaurant business.  Spencer ends up in the body of Awkafina while Bethany gets to be a horse.  Are you confused?  Well there is more confusion to come when the characters find some’ magical water’ in the game that make them all switch avatars yet again!?!  The plot really doesn’t mattter, it has something to do with a jewel, Game of Thrones’ Rory McCann (The Hound), and a flying horse.  I enjoyed the addition of Awkafina, she is hilarious.  However, I wish that the writers had kept everyone in their original avatars, the new ones were not as endearing.  All in all, a decent, if not great, adventure movie!